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The Queen's Wrath
Hey there! This is my first fan-fiction, so I'd really appreciate some feedback. I'm especially worried about Kestrel's voice. It was a school project. Anyway, enjoy! The Queen's Wrath A soldier was disobeying her orders. Kestrel glided through the brisk night air, the quiet flaps of her wings sending small gusts of wind into her sides. She couldn’t believe that she was disobeying her own queen. Scarlet of all dragons! But in a choice between her queen and her dragonets… she would always keep her choice. There wasn’t an option of destroying her egg. So she flew down towards the river below, knowing from her years on this very battlefield there was a hiding spot nearby - a cave, hidden by the waterfall. The sound of distant wing beats made her glance back. A small wing of guards, led by Scarlet herself, was taking off. Kestrel snorted a little fire in frustration and dived into the forest below. It would be a slow trek, but it gave her more of a chance. Better than none. She bushwhacked her way through the dense forest. Dragons didn’t typically travel this way and it showed. Branches hung low with heavy vines and bushes covered the stick-littered ground. It was almost impossible to move silently. Kestrel longed to be able to burn through the forest, but that would be too easy to see from the air. She might as well hold up a flashing sign reading, “HERE’S YOUR TRAITOR! ARREST HER!” and shoot fire into the sky. But onwards she went, carefully protecting the egg she carried in her talons. Suddenly, the egg gave a little jump in Kestrel’s palm. She looked down at it and saw it had a large crack running down its side. Not much longer before it hatched. She sped up as the egg wobbled and cracked beneath her claws. Worries flashed through her head - Scarlet’s soldiers finding them, the egg destroyed, the dragonets dead, and her in chains, powerless to stop Scarlet. What if this was a bad idea? she worriedly thought, What if this ends with all of us dead? That doesn’t matter. If the twins even have a chance of surviving - it’s worth it. It wasn’t much later that the first piece of shell popped off. Kestrel set the egg down and bent down to look into the eyes of the tiny dragonet who had poked her head out of the shell. Her newly hatched scales steamed in the cool evening air - Scarlet had been right. She was firescales. Her eyes were as blue as the midday sky. Her brother poked his head out of the other side of the shell and the egg fragmented into tiny shards. He had a worried, kind face and scales the color of the sand in Scarlet’s arena. Kestrel looked around hurriedly, making sure the soldiers weren’t coming close. Then, she wrapped the dragonets tightly with her wing. The female burned her wing where it touched, and Kestrel shyed back slightly, but she didn’t really care. This was why she’d disobeyed her queen. This was why she forfeited her position. This was why she sacrificed her whole former life - just to live with these dragonets, forever. Realizing how long she’d just been standing there, Kestrel stood back up and lifted her wing away from the dragonets. She whispered down to them, “We need to keep moving. Follow Mommy.” The word seemed strange in her mouth. Kestrel, the loyal soldier, steadfast tough never-giving-up fighter the mother of twins! How strange. She had to slow her pace so the dragonets could keep up, but for hatchlings they were quite capable. As any descendant of hers should be. Soon, the threesome reached the riverbank. Seeing it as a landmark, Kestrel turned to return to the forest, but the dragonets were staring at the sky. Kestrel followed their gaze and saw them watching the three moons overhead. Tonight, only one was full, leaving the land mostly bathed in shadow. Quite beautiful, but they needed to get going. She tugged at the arm of the pale dragonet, dragging him behind her. His sister slowly lowered her eyes from the moons and followed them back towards the forest. “Where are they?!? This hunt is most definitely not thrilling. Not at all.” “I’m sorry my queen. There seems to be no trace of her.” “Are you sure? Look down at your talons, idiot. What do you see?” “Rocks?” “Eggshell pieces. They must be close. Press on!” Kestrel was already running towards the river. If they could make it to the opposite side without Scarlet seeing them, they would be the luckiest dragons on Pyrrhia. But it seemed to be their only chance. She ran and glided over the river on silent wings, the young dragonets close on her tail. They landed with a heavy thump and dashed for the trees. “Ah. There you are. Grab her.” Three moons. Kestrel felt heavy talons seize her shoulders before she could react. Next thing she knew, she was snout-down in the hard dirt. They had been so close. She could hear her dragonets give twin squeaks of alarm as Scarlet’s soldiers caught them. “Let her up. I want to see her face. I’m sure it’ll be... thrilling.” The two soldiers that had been throwing their whole weight against Kestrel’s back suddenly stood back, but kept their talons around her legs. Kestrel was now able to see the full extent of Scarlet’s evil, gloating smile. She glanced to her left and saw a third soldier, with her tail curled around Kestrel’s dragonets. The sight filled her with rage. “What do you want, Scarlet?” Kestrel asked gruffly. “Why, just entertainment,” Scarlet said lightly with her mocking smile boring into Kestrel’s eyes, “Doesn’t everyone enjoy a good show?” It was here that Kestrel wondered how she had ever seen Scarlet as respectable. How had she missed this cruel side to her? Tearing mothers and dragonets, whole families apart for her own entertainment, all with a wicked grin on her face. Was there any dragon in Pyrrhia more evil? “Now, I could just kill you and your dragonets, but that would be boring,” Scarlet said silkily, “Instead, let’s make this interesting. You may live, along with your dragonets, if - ” she paused dramatically and raised a talon, “if you kill one. Right here with your own talons. Prove your true loyalties and you’re free to go.” Kestrel pondered this for a moment. She wasn’t going to escape. That wasn’t possible. But, if Scarlet kept her word… “How can I know you won’t just kill us all?” “Kestrel, really?” Scarlet asked with mock dismay, “I’m hurt. You would think that of your own queen? But I suppose, if it helps. I give you my word, sworn over all the gold in my palace.” Kestrel’s eyes widened. That was not something that Scarlet would swear lightly. One dragonet’s life for another's. Kestrel felt her heart break, but she slowly nodded. “Excellent choice. Guards, let her free.” The two dragons on either side of Kestrel stepped away and walked between her and the queen. “Now, which dragonet will it be?” ' ' Kestrel looked down at the river and the pale body slowly floating away on the current. Her other dragonet was looking up at her curiously, but Kestrel couldn’t meet her eyes. She may have killed hundreds of dragons in battle, but the death of her dragonet was too much for her. Her eyes began to well with tears, but she wiped them away with her bloodstained talons before Scarlet could see. She turned back around to take off. “Oh, you’re going somewhere? Sorry. You have to stay to see this next part. It’ll be simply thrilling to watch your face. Guards - kill the dragonet.” “What?!?” Kestrel roared, “Scarlet! You promised to leave me and her alone!” “I changed my mind. I’m the queen. I can do that.” The guards had been cautiously approaching her as she spoke with Scarlet, but Kestrel stuck first. She drove her talons into one guard’s back and whipped her tail at the other. “Really? You’re no fun.” Kestrel tuned out Scarlet’s commentary and kept at her task. The first guard had turned as red blood spewed from the marks Kestrel’s talons had made. He made a quick jab at Kestrel’s neck with his talons, but she dodged out of the way. Kestrel responded with a swift kick to his side and she heard the satisfying sound of snapping bone as he doubled over and clutched his side. One down. Meanwhile, the other guard had gone reeling back from the strike of her tail and was now trying to climb back onto his talons. Kestrel swiveled around and struck him across the face with one arm. Blood spewed from his broken nose. Kestrel’s rush of victory was interrupted by the cry of her dragonet. The third guard had snuck up behind her, but had blundered across a stick. Idiot. Kestrel dove towards him, spewing flames directly into his face. Couldn’t feel good. She snapped her mouth shut and left the screaming dragon on the shore. It seemed his metal mask had melted to his face. She jumped and shot into the sky, grabbing her screaming dragonet on the way out. The little dragon’s scales were as hot as miniature suns against Kestrel’s palm. She gritted her teeth but the pain was horrible. She gave a roar of rage and dropped the dragonet, fleeing into the darkness of the night. It wasn’t much later however that she flew down into a cave, not caring if there were any other dragons close enough to report her to the queen. She needed to sleep. Luckily the cave was empty and she settled down. It was many hours of grief later that she finally fell asleep. ' ' She awoke to unbearable pain. Not physical - she had a pretty high tolerance for that. No soldier was a stranger to pain. But no battlefield could compare to the pain of having two beautiful dragonets, only to have them both slip through your claws. Even worse: it was all her own fault. No. Kestrel told herself, It’s Scarlet’s fault. She’s the one who must pay. With that, she managed to stand and walk out of the cave. The sun was shining brightly, forcing her to squint, its familiar heat reminding her of the young firescales, the earth beneath her talons like the color of the brother’s scales. How she yearned for them back. She would do anything. No use thinking like that. Not even animus magic can bring back the dead. No. Now she had a new purpose. In a night, she had gone from Scarlet’s most loyal soldier to her biggest threat. Scarlet better watch her back going forward, or she’d find her knife nicely returned. The thought made Kestrel smile. Category:Fanfictions (Completed) Category:Fanfictions (Canon) Category:Fanfictions